Boro Vs Barnsley 3-1

[Aarfy_Aardvark 38]

Trite, unoriginal comment by Steve Claridge =/= trite unoriginal comment by Alan Shearer.

 

Same ***, different stick.

[Air Resistance 26]

Can we put vines on this forum cause ive got one of the goals...

 

anywho, very much a job done lind of performance yesterday. Some very sloppy play, Butterfields passing range let him down, albert and reach stuggled to get into the game. Back 4 did its job, Tomlin looked lively. I would actually give my motm to Varga, great play to set up the second and thought he was great the whole game. Sad to think that may be his last home game

[Guest SmogOnTheTyne]

Can someone give a more indepth analysis of Reach's performance? I mean does he look likely to be pushing for a regular spot next campaign or is he still very much a rough diamond/impact player? Does he need another loan spell? Anything different in his game since he's been away?

[Block53 12]

Can someone give a more indepth analysis of Reach's performance? I mean does he look likely to be pushing for a regular spot next campaign or is he still very much a rough diamond/impact player? Does he need another loan spell? Anything different in his game since he's been away?

 

A steady performance but nothing special. Took his defensive duties more seriously than he previously did prior to the loan. Sounds like Karanka is going to give him a proper crack at cementing a first team place next season.

[p_mards 1,365]

Reach looked like he has improved since he last played for us. Off the ball he looked much more solid, there was one occasion in the first half our two holding midfielders were caught out of position and Reach was aware enough to tuck in and cover the central areas in order to deal with the immediate danger from the edge of the area which gave us time to get players back into position. His touch and link up play too looked better which was good to see.

 

Karanka said about him "I like Adam Reach, he's young and powerful. In the future he can play with us but he needs to train and continue to get better"

 

I posted this yesterday about him.

 

He didn't have the greatest game but it was clear that there has been improvements made.

[MMC 1,000]

I thought Reach was pretty solid. He tracked back well, had one or 2 good shots and whipped in a really dangerous cross shot which Adomah almost reached for an easy tap-in. Something which appears to have improved notably about him is his first touch and dribbling ability. He beat players more often than he did last season and his first touch is nothing short of excellent, especially when receiving long aerial balls. On several occasions he brought a ball completely under his control under ridiculous circumstances.

 

Physically, he's certainly fast in short bursts, but his max speed isn't great. Reminds me a bit of Ledesma. He also looks to have toughened up a bit from his loan spells in league 1 and I was pleasantly surprised to see him challenging for, and winning, several headers.

 

There were a few negatives about his performance yesterday. Although he tracked back well and put in the effort, he didn't contribute a lot defensively. He was easily beaten and never really put a challenge in (you'd expect this to be a stronger part of his game given he played his youth career predominantly as a full back). Although I commented that he certainly looked more capable of beating players, he still didn't try it often. He opted to check back inside and lay the ball off, much like what Kamara does when we stick him on the wing, a lot more than anything else.

 

All in all a good performance, but nothing spectacular. I think we'd see the best of him when he's linking up with George Friend and gorgeous George is opening a bit of space up for him.

[p_mards 1,365]

Yes he had a tough game with Gibson behind him as he isn't the sort of player to make forward runs to open space up so generally Reach was taking on an organised defence ahead of him which was difficult.

[MMC 1,000]

Gibson did well at LB but played a very "Varga-ish" game where he was quality defensively but did nothing going forwards really.

 

Varga on the other hand was good in defence as always but also seemed to offer an attacking outlet.

 

I'm warming more and more to the idea of signing Varga. I know we have a buy option of about 800k, but surely I can't be the only one who thinks that if we force that under 500k that we'll have done a fine little piece of business? He's done a good job there for us and is very consistent. Each week you know that he won't offer much in attack but fulfill his defensive duties. He also doesn't seem as vulnerable against quick, tricky wingers as when he first was slotted in at RB.

[p_mards 1,365]

I'd like to think that there will be better RB's than Varga for much less than that. Especially with players out of contract or available for loan where there will be a few bargains to be had. Just like how Friend(a LB though) was signed for £100,000.

 

Our left flank this season has been by far our most creative area. But since Carayol's injury we have had nowhere near the threat down there so we've had to try and attack through different areas to less effect. We should aim to replicate that attacking threat down our right flank whilst keeping solid defensively. So if we are to keep Adomah(no club offers big money for him to tempt us) then we need to find a RB that does what Friend does at LB so well to help open up space for Adomah to exploit.

[MMC 1,000]

I think Friend is certainly bargain of the decade to be fair :P We'd struggle to get someone for such good value in the next decade!

 

I agree with what you say about our left flank being our most threatening (although I believe Carayol to be too inconsistent and very replaceable). Varga showed flashes of attacking capability yesterday and pretty much created the third goal. Was that due to the quality (or lack of it) of the opposition, or was that him demonstrating that he has a more attacking side to his game?

 

I wasn't too keen on Varga for a while as he looked vulnerable against tricky and/or pacey wingers, however he's really tightened up the defensive side of his game and I wouldn't mind seeing him here next season. He has a good attitude and looks fairly happy to be here.

[p_mards 1,365]

I've got the total opposite opinion on Carayol as I think he is our most unique player that would be most difficult to replace, especially without spending huge amounts of money. If he wasn't injured I'm sure we would have had PL clubs queuing up willing to pay a few million for him this summer. I agree that he was very inconsistent at the start of this season but he was playing brilliantly in nearly every home game and made countless RB's look like pub league players.

 

What Varga does he does pretty well(defensively) but I'm more bothered about what he doesn't do attacking wise(get forward and open up space, link up play with crisp passes etc) as he isn't good enough to do it which restricts our capabilities going forward. Adomah needs better support behind him so that he has more space to exploit.

[MMC 1,000]

When Carayol turns it on, he turns it on big time. My issue with him is the number of times per season that he does turn it on. I do think that him and Tomlin could have some good chemistry however and would rather us keep him than lose him. If an offer of over 2 mill came in for him, I'd snap the hand off whoever bidded.

 

I think it's a good balance having Varga slightly more defensive and friend more offensively minded, although if we did sign him I'd like to see him go forwards a bit more. There's times where he looks frightened go have the ball at his feet, but then there's times like yesterday where he'll storm 30 or 40 yards with it at his feet and make something happen. It doesn't happen often is my main complaint. I'd love to see him go forwards with some confidence like friend does!

[Will 2,958]

https://plus.google.com/app/basic/photos/116770307349523577388/album/6007075643753657377/6007075642662471506?source=appredir

 

Percovich with fans after the game, great to see some real passion and heart a***st the coaching staff. Love it.

[Neverbefore 10,941]

Leo is quickly becoming my favourite person ever! I can only imagine how much fun training is at time with him and kei etc around.

[Brunners 7,982]

Watching the Tomlin interview on the main page and there's a couple things I liked.

 

1. He knows he needs to work on his final ball, says he apologised loads to DG. I'm confident this will happen next year.

2. Had a laugh with some other players, so he's clearly fitting in well off the field.

3. Acknowledged that he's settling in well and again pointed out when he's settled in on the field and his final ball is better his whole game will be better.

 

I'm soo excited to see him next year.